Immune responses against commensal bacteria in donated organs add to the response against the organ itself, reducing the effectiveness of immunosuppressive drugs and causing damage to the organ graft. Organ transplant recipients take life-long immunosuppressive drugs to prevent their bodies from mounting an immune response against the donated organ, yet a substantial number of them still reject the organs. A new study by researchers from the University of Chicago shows that transplant recipients also mount an immune response against commensal…
Several substances that killed antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found by Brazilian researchers in a marine sponge native to Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago off the coast of the Northeast. A research group led by scientists at the University of São Paulo (USP) in São Carlos, Brazil, has identified a number of bioactive compounds in a marine sponge collected on Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago about 400 km off the coast of Brazil’s Northeast region. Some of the substances proved capable of…
UC San Diego researchers describe the biochemical pathway that leads to inflammation characteristic of autoimmune diseases, findings that may lead to new therapies. Mitochondria are self-contained organelles (they possess their own mini-chromosome and DNA) residing within cells and are charged with the job of generating the chemical energy needed to fuel functions essential to life and well-being. When stressed, damaged or dysfunctional, mitochondria expel their DNA (mtDNA), oxidized and cleaved, into the cytosol— the fluid within a cell in which…
With particles that release their payloads at different times, one injection could provide multiple vaccine doses. Most vaccines, from measles to Covid-19, require a series of multiple shots before the recipient is considered fully vaccinated. To make that easier to achieve, MIT researchers have developed microparticles that can be tuned to deliver theiir payload at different time points, which could be used to create “self-boosting” vaccines. In a new study, the researchers describe how these particles degrade over time, and…
During sperm production, an enormous amount of DNA has to be packed into a very small space without breaking anything. A central role is played by certain proteins around which the DNA thread is wrapped – the protamines. A recent study by the University of Bonn provides new insights into this important mechanism. The results have been published in the journal PLoS Genetics. If you are moaning once again about your suitcase being far too small as your vacation approaches,…
Observations reveal the angle dependence of the magnetic field needed to suppress superconductivity in CeRh₂As₂. Uniquely, the behavior of “odd parity” superconductors is revealed. Superconductivity is a fascinating state of matter in which an electrical current can flow without any resistance. Usually, it can exist in two forms. One is destroyed easily with a magnetic field and has “even parity”, i.e. it has a point symmetric wave function with respect to an inversion point, and one which is stable in…
New understanding of how mechanical features of bone marrow affect resident immune cells in fibrotic cancer points to future therapeutic strategies for cancers and fibrotic diseases. By Benjamin Boettner Fibrosis is the thickening of various tissues caused by the deposition of fibrillar extracellular matrix (ECM) in tissues and organs as part of the body’s wound healing response to various forms of damage. When accompanied by chronic inflammation, fibrosis can go into over-drive and produce excess scar tissue that cannot be…
Findings provide mechanism to diagnose and treat autoimmune diseases. Using UT Southwestern’s Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility, researchers for the first time have captured images of an autoantibody bound to a nerve cell surface receptor, revealing the physical mechanism behind a neurological autoimmune disease. The findings, published in Cell, could lead to new ways to diagnose and treat autoimmune conditions, the study authors said. “We’re entering a new era of understanding how autoimmune disease works in the central nervous system,” said Colleen M. Noviello, Ph.D., Assistant Professor…
… pave the way for better drugs to treat heart disease. The first full-length structures of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) have been determined by researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). ACE is a blood pressure-regulating protein that is critical for heart health. Published in The EMBO Journal [https://www.embopress.org/doi/10.15252/embj.2021110550] on 12 July 2022, the cryo-EM structures of ACE in two different conformations have the potential to improve drug design for cardiovascular disease – the…
Two of the most common genetic changes that cause cells to become cancerous, which were previously thought to be separate and regulated by different cellular signals, are working in concert, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. To date, researchers have focused on finding drugs that block one or the other to treat cancer. Understanding their cooperative effects may lead to more effective treatments. Cells muster a protein, called p53, which acts inside the cell nucleus to respond…
Scientists have identified more than 1,500 genetic differences between migratory and non-migratory hoverflies. A team led by the University of Exeter captured migrating insects as they flew through a mountain pass, and sequenced active genes to identify which determine migratory behaviour. This genetic information was then compared to that of non-migrating summer hoverflies. “We identified 1,543 genes whose activity levels were different in the migrants,” said lead author Toby Doyle, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter’s Penryn…
Ultrafast electrons shed light on the web of hydrogen bonds that gives water its strange properties, vital for many chemical and biological processes. The Science Water is the most abundant liquid in nature, but it’s also one of the least understood. Water has unusual properties. For example, most materials get denser when they get colder, but water is densest a few degrees above freezing. That’s why ice floats. Scientists suggest that water’s so-called “proton quantum effect” may be at the…
Researchers have solved a medical mystery in a poorly understood disease by uncovering which cells cause tumours in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). As described in Cell Reports, they did this by creating genetically engineered kidney organoids, or “mini-kidneys” grown from human tissue. “The cells at the origin of tuberous sclerosis tumours have been a mystery for decades,” said senior author Dr. Bill Stanford, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. “Our results…
Caught in the act: Researchers from the University of Tsukuba and collaborating partners experimentally measured hydrogenation of metal-adsorbed formate. This development will facilitate practical conversion of carbon dioxide pollutant into methanol fuel. Carbon dioxide pollution continues to change the global climate. Researchers know how to pinpoint such pollution, even on a regional and near-real-time basis, as highlighted this year in Science Advances (April 22). As part of a solution to carbon dioxide pollution, many studies focus on how to convert this pollutant…
University of Rochester biologists used population genomics to study a selfish ‘supergene’ that skews genetic inheritance. The human genome is littered with “selfish genetic elements,” which do not seem to benefit their hosts, but instead seek only to propagate themselves. Selfish genetic elements can wreak havoc by, for instance, distorting sex ratios, impairing fertility, causing harmful mutations, and even potentially causing population extinction. Biologists at the University of Rochester, including Amanda Larracuente, an associate professor of biology, and Daven Presgraves, a University Dean’s…
A protein from a heat-loving bacterium allows specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses in a one-pot assay based on RT-LAMP technology. This test could simplify point-of-care diagnoses of COVID-19 and other infections. RT-LAMP tests are similar to PCR tests: they detect tiny amounts of viral genetic material in a sample by amplifying it to detectable amounts. One advantage of an RT-test over PCR tests is that it is performed at a single temperature (55-65 degrees Celsius) instead of repeated…
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